Aeroplane.



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AEROPLANE.

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AEROPLANE.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 13, 1912.

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AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.13, 1912.

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APPLICATION FILED AUG.13, 1912.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

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244.. AERONAUTICS INVENTOR Arm/Mk fimna Popazsn'y WITNESSES:

?Jl l. AERONAUIIUS I HEINRICH POIDOLSKY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

AEROPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented N 4 1913 Application filed August 13, 1912. Serial No. 714,801.

T all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HEINRICH PODOLSKY, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented a new and useful Aeroplane, of which the following is a specification in such full and clear terms as will enable those skilled in the art to construct and use the same.

This invention relates to an aeroplane and the object thereof is to produce an aeroplane which will be capable of having its resistance to the air varied at the will of the operator.

In general, the machine consists of a single fixed plane and two sets of movable planes which are capable of being tilted transversely to the line of movement of the machine to enable the machine to rise or descend as may be required.

Another object of the invention is to provide the machine with an inclosure for the protection of the person operating the same.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pair of extensible curtains which may be used to act as parachutes if the control of the machine should be lost.

It is to be observed that in the case of an aeroplane the effect of flying is due to the traveling relatively up on the body of air against which the plane impinges. Therefore to merely travel forward without rising, it is necessary for one of the planes to be inclined upward at its forward edge.

In this invention it is contemplated that the main plane shall be of sufficient extent to practically support the entire machine, its rising and descending movements being controlled by auxiliary planes which are capable of having their angles change relatively to the main plane, that is, when it is desired to rise their forward edges are raised while the reverse movement will cause the machine to descend.

In the drawings in which the same numeral of reference is applied to the same portion throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine, Fig. 2 is a side view of the machine with a portion of the car broken away to show the interior thereof, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the aeroplane, a portion of two of the auxiliary planes being broken away to illustrate the position of one side of the car,

55 Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the machine, a

portion of the car being broken away to show the interior thereof, Fig. 5 is a plan view of the car with the top of the aeroplane removed therefrom, Fig. 6 is a front elevation of one of the rollers for supporting the parachute rollers, Fig. 7 is an end View of one of the parachute rollers and its supporting roller, and Fig. 8 is an end view of the winding drum for holding the parachute curtains down illustrating the pawl used to prevent said drum from unwinding.

The numeral 1 represents the lower member of the main frame of the machine, said frame having a suitable number of uprights 2 for the support of the frame work carrying the main plane 3. The main plane 3 is curved upwardly as indicated in Fig. 2 and has a short, straight plane 4 connected therewith at its front edge and a slightly wider, straight plane 5 connected therewith at its rear edge. The frame work may have suitable wire bracing, not shown, as is deemed necessary in the art, but which is not shown here for the purpose of clearness. Extending below the lower frame 1 are four posts 6, each post having a fork 7 for the wheel 8. Suitable horizontal braces 9 and 10 connect the wheel forks 7 which wheels are for the purpose of supporting the aeroplane upon the ground in a well known manner. Extending from the lower part of the frame 1 up through the plane 3 are six uprights 11, 12, 13, 14, and 16, suitable guy cables 17 connecting the upper ends of said uprights with the frame work upon which the planes 3, 4 and 5 are carried. The supports 11 to 16 carry two sets of movable planes 1S and 19, the frame work carrying said planes being pivoted at the upper end of the uprights as indicated at 20, and the frame of each set of planes 18 and 19 is provided with a sprocket wheel 21. The sprocket chains 22 pass over the wheels 21 and extend downwardly into the machine, one chain passing over a sprocket wheel 23 and the other passing over a sprocket wheel 24. The wheels 23 and 2 1 have suitable shafts for the support thereof and said shafts are provided with worm wheels 25 and 26. A suitable frame work 27 affords a bearing for two cranks 28 and 29, said cranks being placed within reach of the operators seat 30, and each crank is provided with a worm for engagement with its adjacent worm wheel, thus enabling the operator to increase or decrease the inclination of the planes 18 and 19 at will. This increase and decrease of the inclination of the planes 18 and 19 is for the purpose of enabling the machine to ascend or descend as may be desired.

Just below the planes 4 and 5 where they join the plane 3 are rollers 31 and 32, said rollers extending substantially the entire length of the planes 4 and 5. Each of these rollers has a curtain wound thereon as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 at 33, and the rollers are supported at several points along the length thereof by means of brackets 34 secured to the underside of the frame of the machine and carrying smaller rollers 35 which bear upon the underside of the cur tain rollers. The forward curtain roller is provided with a series of cords 36 and the rear curtain roller is provided with a series of cords 37. The cords 36 pass around pulleys 38 and around pulleys 39 near the seat of the operator. The cords 37 pass around pulleys 40 near the lower part of the frame of the machine and then around suitable other pulleys until they pass over the pulleys 39 and with the cords 36 and then pass over a suitable winding drum 42. This winding drum has a crank 43 adjacent the side of the operator and it is provided with a suitable pawl 44 to hold it in a given position when the curtains have been pulled down. These curtains may be pulled down about one-half the height of the frame, the object being to prevent the absolute failure of the machine.

In the lower part of the frame work 1 there are two shafts 46 and 47 extending from the front to the rear of the machine, each shaft having propellers 48 and 49 so that there are two propellers at the front and two propellers at the rear of the machine. The shaft 46 is provided with a sprocket wheel 50 and the shaft 47 is provided with a sprocket wheel 51, chains 52 and 53 passing over said sprocket wheels respectively and over similar wheels on the main shaft 54. The shaft 54 is suitably supported from the frame of the machine and it has a clutch 55 with suitable rods, a lever 56 extending to a hand lever 57 for the operation thereof.

The engine is shown at 58 and may be of any desired type, said engine being suitably placed to connect said driving shaft with the main propeller driving shaft 54.

In order to steer the machine laterally, four rudder planes 59, 60, 61 and 62 are employed, two at each side of the machine. These rudder planes are placed above and below the lower portion of the frame work 1, and are pivoted near the center of their length in order to give a balanced effect when they are turned to one side or the other. In order to effect the movement of said rudder planes the operator is provided with a lever 63 which lever has a link 64 connecting it with an L shaped lever 65. The L shaped lever is pivoted at its corner to the lower portion of the frame of the machine and one arm thereof is slotted and connected with a suitable rod 67 connecting the rudder planes at both sides of the machine It thus becomes possible to shift each rudder the same amount with a single lever.

It is of course contemplated that suitable mechanism for the control of the engine will be added to the machine, but such control forms no part of the present invention and is, therefore, not described or disclosed herein.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

1. In an aeroplane, a frame, means carried by said frame to propel and steer the machine, a main supporting plane having a portion thereof curved and having straight portions at the front and back edges thereof, curtain rollers carried by said frame work below and adjacent the joining of the curved and straight portions of the plane, and means to pull said curtains downwardly, should the propelling apparatus fail, substantially as described.

2. In an aeroplane, a frame, a main supporting plane carried thereby, means to propel and steer said machine, two independently pivoted planes above the main plane one in front of the other, and manual means within the reach of the operator to vary the inclination of said pivoted planes independently of each other to cause the ascent or descent of the machine, substantially as described.

3. In an aeroplane, a frame, a main supporting plane having straight portions at its front and back edges and a curved portion connecting the two straight portions carried thereby, two shafts extending from the front to the rear of said machine, two propellers carried by each of said shafts, means to rotate said propellers, and steering planes on vertical axes adjacent and in front of each rear propeller, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of August A. D. 1912, in the presence of the two subscribed witnesses.

HEINRICH PODOLSKY. IVitnesses:

O. P. GRIFFIN, L. H. ANDERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O. 

